Re where the "French" jewels should have gone.
To stimulate debate I am going to play Devil's Advocate and ask --
Weren't the jewels of Empress Marie Louise (acquired by Marjorie Post) private property, legitimately sold in the first instance? (I am not sure of the history of the diamonds in the earrings said to have belonged to Marie Antoinette)
If they were (and not looted like some items) then Marjorie Merriweather Post had every right to dispose of her property as she saw fit. She could have given the jewels to her daughters or friends.
Marjorie Merriweather Post was instrumental in establishing the jewellery section of the Smithonian, so her decision to give some to the museum was a patriotic as well as a philanthropic gesture.
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